Can these residents refuse their neighbor’s request?
You often find yourself feeling entitled to something that is not completely yours. Like feeling ownership over your desk at work, or the street parking right in front of your house. The more you use it and the closer it gets to your personal property, the more you feel entitled to it. At some point, you don’t even have to explain this pseudo-ownership to anyone else; they simply accept the rules and move on.
That is, until someone comes around and shakes up the equilibrium.
The residents in the story below feel a sense of ownership over the parking spaces in front of their houses. Even though these spaces are technically street parking and are not privately owned by anyone, it has become an unspoken rule that people should either park in their own driveways or as close as possible to their own homes and not in front of other people’s driveways.
When one of the neighbors knocked on these residents’ door and asked them if they could move their car so he could also park in front of their house, it took them by surprise. They could see that his driveway is empty, and while he explained that he’d rather park on the street, under the tree’s shade, than in his own driveway, this still didn’t sit right with the residents. They felt entitled to the street parking in front of their home, and didn’t want to let anyone else park there alongside them.
Now, you can look at these from two perspectives. On one hand, the resident can park in his own driveway and even install something to ensure he has shade, which makes much more sense than parking on the street. On the other hand, the other residents don’t have ownership of the street parking, and if someone else wants to park there, they don’t really have the authority to say no.
So, which side are you on?
Author: Kayitsi.com
